The Hunter Gets Hunted
by Tabbyluna
Summary: "I only said that I think training is a waste of time. We could be spending that time doing our jobs, you know. Geez, Elf!"


Maple leaves crunching under her with every step she took, Nightfall cursed her lack of grace in an environment like this. Stealth Elf had the upper hand this time. Clever girl, she chooses her battlegrounds wisely. Selected a place where she could sneak around with ease, while she, who considered the waters and the shadows her home base, was forced to lumber around and watch every step she took to the point of annoyance. Nightfall regretted allowing her to choose the location.

She had her sharpened hooks out and ready to strike. There was no telling when that ninja would attack, and what was most irritating was how she was so obviously enjoying herself. Every now and then, she would hear a sound which sounded like someone chuckling. That only served to annoy her further. She was enjoying this, watching her stumble around the forest floor both on her feet and on her hair. A forest floor filled with dozens of roots to trip over. Not helping was the fact that the whole place was covered with dry autumn leaves, which made every move she made produce a sound. As this battle was taking place in the middle of the day, the light of the sun shone through the tree branches. The place was bright and noisy. Everything which would give Stealth Elf the advantage and make it harder for Nightfall.

Why did she agree to spar against her again?

She took a few noisy steps back, and regretted allowing her tongue to get her into trouble. Yesterday, Stealth Elf had been chewing her out over skipping training again. Called her arrogant, reckless, lazy. She had brushed her off.

"Get off my back, Elf. At least I can do my actual job without losing my head over how many push-ups I do a day."

It struck a nerve. And soon, her senior Skylander was challenging her to a duel at high noon the next day. "What are we, cowboys?" She had sniped. But she accepted the challenge, expecting it to be easy. She had seen Elf in action, and though she was good, Nightfall eventually found that her fighting style could be quite predictable. The ninja had been doing this ever since she was a child. Trained by different teachers over the years, sure. Constantly adding new moves to her repertoire, of course. Smart and intuitive, definitely. But Nightfall had seen her in action plenty of times to know her standard fighting style. There was no way she would be tactical and creative in a mere sparring session, she had thought.

She had thought wrong. More laughter could be heard from behind her, and she whipped her head around, aiming her hook at a tree. Dang it, she missed again.

The sound of rushing came from behind her, like a sudden gust of wind, and her heart nearly skipped a beat at that sensation. Pressing a hand to her hair, she felt something wet and stingy. She took a look at her hand. Something blue, a familiar sight to a fighter like her. Blood.

She was nearby.

With her hooks at the ready, she scanned the area around her. Where could she be? She couldn't have gone far. Her boots landed with a crunch on the leafy floor, and she pulled her hair up to decrease the space she was taking up. If she was nearby, Nightfall wanted to make sure she couldn't be an easy target. This was such an unusual feeling. She was used to playing the hunter in these scenarios. Having that power taken away from her on the battlefield was foreign to her, and she was hating every second of it.

Another rush of wind from behind her, though this time Nightfall was marginally more prepared. She swung a hook, and ended up lodging it into a tree. After pulling it out with a grunt, she looked around tentatively. Trying to ignore the sting of pain which came from her second cut.

"Come out Stealth Elf," she tried to taunt her, but it really sounded more like a growl. "I know you're just hiding because you're afraid of what I'll do if I can see you."

The taunting wouldn't work, she knew that. Stealth Elf a professional, and she had learned to keep her emotions in check on the battlefield. Still, it felt good talking like that. It might have been because she wanted to feel better about not having the upper hand, but acknowledging that would be another blow to her already hurting pride. She gritted her teeth under her mask, and took a deep breath. Then something pushed her from behind, knocking the breath out of her in the process.

She scrambled to her feet, and tried to regain her composure. Stealth Elf had proved her point, but she wasn't about to fold now. Stubbornness and pride, a combination which made her a formidable warrior during her finest hours, but an easy targets in situations like this. "That's it!" She called out. "Come out here, I'm ready for the real battle to start!"

A chuckle came from her, and the mocking tone of it amplified Nightfall's embarrassment. Then, a second chuckle came. Then a third. Fourth. Fifth. It made Nightfall do a double take, until she remembered one of Stealth Elf's abilities.

"If you say so Nightfall." Came that taunting voice again, and another kick was administered to her stomach. It sent her keeling over, and once she looked up again she saw at least five Stealth Elfs looking at her with smug looks on their faces.

She dashed towards the closest one, slashing at her with her hook. But it gripped her wrist, and the bizarre thing about that action was that while she was pressing down on her arm, she could not move a muscle, no matter how much Nightfall wanted to move.

"What… what are you doing to me?" Nightfall glared at her. Judging by the glazed expression of that Stealth Elf, it had to be a clone. "Let go of me!" It felt hard to even move her jaw. Every word took effort to say.

"Relax, Nightfall. It's just an acupuncture technique I've adapted into a fighting technique. You're very sensitive to this, too." Said the real Stealth Elf, sashaying forward. It made Nightfall feel all warm under her black sailor uniform, and she hated how embarrassed she felt. Especially that look Stealth Elf was giving her. So satisfied with herself. Was that how she looked whenever she caught her prey? She fancied herself a hunter, but it looked like Stealth Elf had truly bested her that day.

She glanced around, trying to see what she could do to escape. But all she caught sight of were all of Stealth Elf's clones, with their dragonfang daggers against her two hooks, and all she felt was a numbness of her muscles. If she pushed herself, she could move her body a little. But not enough to be effective in a fight. Sighing, she glanced down at the leaf-covered forest floor. "I fold. You win." She mumbled. And instantly, the duplicates disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The act set her free, as suddenly all the feeling rushed back to her muscles. All the pain she had felt rippled through her ten times as strong as earlier, and she ended up on her knees, clutching her stomach. What on Earth had Stealth Elf been practicing lately?

In her field of vision, she spotted a green hand reach out for her. Stealth Elf wanted to help her up. With a groan, she got up by herself, her legs wobbling like jelly and her back aching. As if she would let her pride get further wounded after that battle.

"So, what do you have to say for yourself?" Asked Stealth Elf, in a voice which Nightfall was sure she was using to annoy her. It was working too, she hadn't felt so warm in her face since her first mission.

"Fine," She growled. "I'll make sure to come for training next time."

She smiled at her. Though her mouth was hidden behind her mask, she could see it in her eyes. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow at the crack of dawn then. Buzz and I will be waiting for you."

As the two of them were about to walk back to their vehicles, Stealth Elf reached behind Nightfall and patted her on the back. "But seriously, you have to be extremely sensitive to these attacks. I tried them on Stormblade, and she took them way better than you did."

She wasn't new to getting teased. Roller Brawl, Splat, Stormblade, they made snippy remarks at her fashion choices and gloomy attitude in the past. Those times, she could always take the remarks and fire back her own quips. But Stealth Elf was sneaky with her teasing. Mainly because she took her time to think about what she said, and what she said was always something she knew the other person would be sensitive about. She never punched up or down. But punching sideways, she was extremely effective at punching sideways.

Nightfall climbed back into her vehicle, glad to be back in her comfort zone. "Just shut up and drive," she said to Stealth Elf over the radio. Stealth Elf laughed back, and the two of them drove back to the Academy, the rest of the journey back spent in silence.


End file.
